~25 cm standoff MAHLI image of the Glen Etive 1 drill hole. The hole is ~1.6 cm diameter. This image is being used to place APXS on the tailings surrounding the hole in the plan tosol.

The focus of Curiosity's activities since returning to operations after conjunction, now that Mars has safely moved out from behind the sun, is to finish up the analyses associated with the drilling campaign at 'Glen Etive 1.' Yestersol we planned to dump drill fines from the drill bit assembly (DBA) and the analyses of those fines with APXS (for chemistry) and MAHLI (for close up colour and texture), as well as obtaining MAHLI images of the drill hole and associated fines surrounding the hole (tailings). The MAHLI images of the drill tailings allowed us to choose the best location on the tailings to analyze with APXS in the plan tosol. We are interested in comparing the chemistry of the tailings, versus the DBA fines, versus the brushed surface prior to drilling to look for variations in composition with depth. We may have intersected different layers during drilling; the tailings are typically derived from the top 2 cm of the drill hole, while the DBA fines are derived from the lower several cms. More MAHLI imaging of the the drill hole was also planned, including angled night time imaging down the hole to look for any obvious layering or veins. In the Payload Uplink/Downlink role for the APXS instrument tosol, I was involved in helping to select where to place APXS, working with the rover arm engineers at JPL in Pasadena, as well as being responsible for delivering the commands to our instrument to execute the measurement.

Because the current, as well as upcoming activities require substantial power the geology group decided not to plan any further science observations tosol, thereby conserving power. However, the environmental group planned the normal cadence of background REMS and DAN passive measurements. Standard RAD measurements were also planned.

The team is looking forward to wrapping up here at Glen Etive 1 and drilling another hole close by to enable a more detailed study of this material with the internal rover laboratory instruments, CheMin and SAM.

See this video for an explanation of conjunction: Conjunction explanation ›Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick

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Sol 2524: The Tail(ings)-end of the Glen Etive 1 Drilling CampaignThe focus of Curiosity's activities since returning to operations after conjunction, now that Mars has safely moved out from behind the sun, is to finish up the analyses associated with the drilling campaign at "Glen Etive 1."Sol 2523: Picking Up Where We Left Off

Today is our first planning sol following solar conjunction. For the past few weeks, Mars and Earth have been on opposite sides of the Sun, preventing routine communications with Curiosity. Our rover spent most of the time sleeping, with some routine environmental monitoring with REMS and RAD and occasional Hazcam images like the one shown. The image shows that we're still parked at our 'Glen Etive' drill location where today we planned the 6th sol of our 8-sol drill campaign.

The primary activity for today's plan was to dump the remaining powdered rock sample that we collected when drilling Glen Etive and then use APXS to analyze the small dump pile overnight. The GEO and ENV theme groups also planned a variety of activities to catch up on how things may have changed in the last few weeks. This included looking at the drill hole with Mastcam to see if the drill tailings might have blown away or been moved by the wind, getting measurements of atmospheric dust opacities and clouds with Mastcam and Navcam, and doing some routine instrument calibration activities. ChemCam will also target two new rock targets, 'Cowgate' and 'Glenlivet,' to continue to document the geochemical diversity in the area.Written by Scott Guzewich, Atmospheric Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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Sol 2523: Picking Up Where We Left OffToday is our first planning sol following solar conjunction. For the past few weeks, Mars and Earth have been on opposite sides of the Sun, preventing routine communications with Curiosity.Sols 2506-2508: Until we meet again

Today was the final opportunity to actively command Curiosity before the Sun comes between us and Mars. Most of the instruments are safely stored for the solar conjunction break, but intrepid Navcam was available for some last-minute science observations. Navcam will measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere, look for dust devils, and look for clouds in a series of images and movies on Sol 2506. After that, the remote sensing mast will turn its gaze down toward the workspace to guard against dust accumulation on the mast instruments.

While Curiosity will not receive commands from Earth during solar conjunction, she has already been loaded with a series of commands to keep her systematically gathering data for the next two weeks. REMS and RAD will acquire multiple measurements each sol, DAN will acquire one long passive measurement each sol, and Navcam and the front and rear Hazcams will each acquire one image per day. The mast's downward-looking view includes the 'Glen Etive' drill hole, allowing Navcam to monitor any changes in the cuttings around the drill hole. DAN will also acquire active measurements twice during solar conjunction to exercise its neutron generator. The data gathered will be stored up for return once we regain reliable communications with Mars.

Just as solar conjunction is not time off for Curiosity, it is not time off for the science team! Without the responsibilities of commanding the rover, the team has more time to pore over the spectacular data Curiosity has gathered for us. It takes time to translate each image, mosaic, and spectrum into a better understanding of what happened in Gale crater, and conjunction affords us more of this time to think deeply and carefully. Ultimately, the time dedicated to science turns into papers, which are one of the many ways the science team communicates what it has learned with our colleagues and the wider public.

If you miss Curiosity while she is out of contact, enjoy your own tour through all our images here. We promise there is enough to see there to get you through two weeks!Written by Michelle Minitti, Planetary Geologist at Framework

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Sols 2506-2508: Until we meet againToday was the final opportunity to actively command Curiosity before the Sun comes between us and Mars.Sols 2504-2505: Packing up for our journey behind the Sun

The days leading up to a big trip can be hectic. There are preparations to be made, belongings to be packed, extra work to do in anticipation of being away from the computer. And it's no different for a robot on the surface of Mars. With solar conjunction quickly approaching, the team is focused on getting the rover prepared for its journey behind the sun, during which time all communications between Earth and the rover will cease. Today the team was faced with the interesting challenge of having to fit all the activities that needed to be completed before conjunction in the limited time available before the rover had to start 'packing up' its instruments for the two-week hiatus. When planning began, the science team was informed that we would not be allowed to use Mastcam or ChemCam after the first sol, in order to get those instruments turned off and into a safe position before solar conjunction began. This placed a constraint on what activities could be included in the plan and when they could be included; a plan that originally included three science blocks spread over two sols quickly shrank into one massive science block on the first sol, jam-packed with all the activities that need to be done to get the rover into vacation mode.

The science block included various geologic observations, such as Mastcam multispectral images of a fractured rock and some potential meteorites named 'Stone Row,' as well as two ChemCam activities on targets 'Windy Swire' and 'Wigtownshire.' In anticipation of post-conjunction activities, a Navcam image was also included to gather range data on a group of shadowed rocks nearby. Four different targets will be imaged by Mastcam to monitoring wind activity: two sand targets (Dundee 1 and Dundee 2), the rover deck, and a sediment pile around the drill hole. Since Navcam will remain partially operational during conjunction, the rover will also continue to monitor wind on its own throughout the break by repeating the image shown above once per sol to see if any material moves around in the workspace while we are away. Today's science plan also included a set of Mastcam and Navcam observations used for studying atmospheric phenomena like clouds and dust lifting.

The science block concluded with a Mastcam homing sequence, which will stow the camera in a safe position in preparation for the two-week break. We still have one more pre-conjunction planning day on Friday, but with limited instrumentation, it is looking like it will be a very quiet one. With all of our required science activities complete, and our instruments powering down, we should be almost ready for our journey behind the sun! But wait… where did we put our passport?!Written by Mariah Baker, Planetary Geologist at Johns Hopkins University

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Sols 2504-2505: Packing up for our journey behind the SunThe days leading up to a big trip can be hectic. There are preparations to be made, belongings to be packed, extra work to do in anticipation of being away from the computer.Sol 2502-2503: Science to Exhaustion

The Sol 2502-2503 plan starts with a couple of ChemCam observations on the bedrock targets 'Papigoe' and 'Princes Street,' followed by a Mastcam stereo mosaic of 'Stone Row.' Then in the afternoon of Sol 2502, Curiosity will portion out all the sample material from the 'Glen Etive' drill hole that remains in the drill stem, in an activity called 'portion to exhaustion,' taking plenty of Mastcam images to document the process. Sol 2502 will end with an overnight APXS atmospheric observation.

On Sol 2503, ChemCam has some more activities, starting with an analysis of the bedrock target 'Macbeth's Cairn.' This will be followed by an autonomously targeted observation of some of the bright veins in the bedrock target 'Lamlash.' ChemCam will finish up with an observation of some layers in the target 'Prince Charlie's Cave.' Mastcam will document all of these ChemCam observations and then Navcam will watch for dust devils and clouds. Finally, overnight CheMin will run another analysis of the 'Glen Etive' drill sample.

This plan leaves our rover lower on power than originally planned, but with conjunction coming up, the team decided it was worth it to get all of this science done.Written by Ryan Anderson, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center

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Sol 2502-2503: Science to ExhaustionThe Sol 2502-2503 plan starts with a couple of ChemCam observations on the bedrock targets "Papigoe" and "Princes Street," followed by a Mastcam stereo mosaic of "Stone Row."Sol 2499-2501: More SAMple analysis

Conjunction is the few-week period when Mars goes behind the sun and we stop communicating with our spacecraft that are there. Our last planning day before conjunction will be next Friday, and thinking about that fast approaching day feels very similar to thinking about getting ready to leave for vacation. The Curiosity science team has many things we want to wrap up before conjunction, so we're trying to work extra hard to do as much as we can before setting up Curiosity's (figurative) auto-reply 'I'm behind the sun' email.

This weekend's plan is all about running additional SAM analyses on the Glen Etive drill sample. We are planning to deliver a portion of the drill sample to SAM on lucky sol 2500, and SAM will analyze its composition using the gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer (GC-MS) on sol 2501. This SAM activity is preceded by an activity to clean the GC column on sol 2499, and the combined observations use so much power, there's not a lot left for other activities. We did manage to fit in a little bit of remote sensing, taking two ChemCam targets of 'Sutherland' and 'Risk' with their associated Mastcam images, along with some images to monitor dust in the atmosphere. Looking forward to seeing the results from this weekend's SAM run!Written by Abigail Fraeman, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Sol 2499-2501: More SAMple analysisConjunction is the few-week period when Mars goes behind the sun and we stop communicating with our spacecraft that are there.Sols 2497-2498: SAM is GO for analyzing the Glen Etive drill sample

This morning, after seeing that the redo of the SAM Preconditioning in Monday's plan was successful, the SAM team was ready to drop-off four portions to SAM for evolved gas analysis. The power demands of SAM left little room for other activities on the first sol of the plan, but we were able to fit in some additional science on the second sol. In the afternoon of sol 2498, we'll be doing targeted science, including Mastcam and ChemCam, of the targets 'Liberton' and 'Torberg' to get the chemistry of the other plates near the drill target. There are also some standard environmental observations, such as Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction imaging and Navcam imaging to search for dust devils clouds. We also, on the second sol, are getting another data readout from CheMin on the sample we dropped off on Monday. The results of the SAM analysis will be available prior to planning on Friday, and based on those results, the SAM team will determine whether to do additional analysis on the Glen Etive drill sample in the weekend plan. The attached Navcam image shows the view of the Mount Sharp summit from our current location.Written by Ashley Stroupe, Mission Operations Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Sols 2497-2498: SAM is GO for analyzing the Glen Etive drill sampleThis morning, after seeing that the redo of the SAM Preconditioning in Monday's plan was successful, the SAM team was ready to drop-off four portions to SAM for evolved gas analysis.Sols 2495-2496: A slight change of plans

Today's planning began with a bit of a shuffle as we learned that the sample cup that was used for SAM preconditioning over the weekend didn't seal as well as desired. This preconditioning step is required before we can perform SAM Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) on the 'Glen Etive' drill sample. In response, we elected to redo the SAM preconditioning activity using another cup, in addition to running another CheMin analysis. These changes freed up additional time for remote sensing observations in this 2 sol plan.

We planned a variety of ChemCam observations, including a retargeting of the Glen Etive drill hole in order to better adjust the focus parameters. We identified a rock called 'Scone' with nicely exposed layers that we will sample with a vertical raster, and will also target another bedrock target called 'Crannog.' There was also time to take a long distance RMI mosaic of the sulfate unit to image sedimentary structures in these distant rocks. Supporting Mastcam documentation images were planned for each of these observations, as well as Navcam movies designed for determining cloud height. If all goes well with the redo of the SAM preconditioning, we'll be continuing along the drill sol path in no time!Written by Vivian Sun, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Sols 2495-2496: A slight change of plansToday's planning began with a bit of a shuffle as we learned that the sample cup that was used for SAM preconditioning over the weekend didn't seal as well as desired.Sols 2492-2494: Just Another Week on Mars…

It's the end of another week on Mars, and today we put together a 3 sol weekend plan for Curiosity. Given the RSM-related issues that we incurred this past week, we are still being cautious, but the diagnostic testing that ran in the last plan was successful.
To exercise that caution, we began planning this morning with a little shuffle of science blocks to ensure that any observations that have the RSM pointing above the horizon are run prior to last the satellite communications pass that will transmit data to the team in time for planning on Monday morning.

Our plan begins with a hefty two hour science block on the first sol that features both a Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observation to measure the amount of dust and clouds in the atmosphere. The Mastcam images are then followed by two alternating ChemCam LIBS and RMI observations of bedrock and crushed rock (targets 'Glen Affric' and 'Grey Corries,' respectively). The science block wraps up with some Mastcam images of the drill target 'Glen Etive,' and change detection imaging on the target 'Dundee,' which captures how various regolith grains move over time and can even be used as a method for measuring wind speed.

Later in the first sol, there is a drill sample drop off to CheMin followed by an overnight CheMin analysis. During this analysis the instrument transmits a beam of X-rays through one side of the vibrating sample cell and captures an X-ray diffraction pattern on a detector on the other side, and that resulting pattern can be used to determine the types and abundances of minerals in the sample.After the CheMin analysis, Curiosity wakes up the next morning on Sol 2493 to execute the weekly suite of morning observations requested by the Environmental Science theme group. This 37 minute block consists of another set of Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observations, as well as Navcam zenith and supra-horizon cloud movies which search for clouds directly above the rover and the horizon. These are followed by a Navcam line of sight observation which looks at the crater rim to measure dust opacity, and then a Navcam 360° Phase Function Sky Survey, which tries to capture as much of the sky at once as possible, in order to tell us more about how Martian water ice clouds scatter light and the geometries of the ice crystals within them.

Curiosity largely takes the rest of the plan to recharge and take regular environmental observations with REMS and DAN, with the exception of a 10 minute science block on sol 2494 for some Mastcam imaging of potential iron meteorite targets 'Isle Martin' and 'Monach Isles.'Written by Brittney Cooper, Atmospheric Scientist at York University

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Sols 2492-2494: Just Another Week on Mars…It's the end of another week on Mars, and today we put together a 3 sol weekend plan for Curiosity.Sols 2489-2491: A Change in the Weather (Observations)

A Rear Hazcam image used for dust devil monitoring.

Over the weekend, Curiosity successfully dropped off a portion of the Glen Etive drill sample. But for some reason, the sequence was interrupted, so no images of the portion were acquired. Curiosity's Remote Sensing Mast (RSM), on which ChemCam, both Mastcams, and all four Navcams are mounted, briefly stopped pointing as commanded on sol 2488. The RSM worked well in the tests planned on sol 2489 and downlinked ahead of today's planning, however. So while the engineers continue to diagnose the issue, such as whether it involves recent changes to the way we heat motors connected to the RSM, we used it again cautiously in the sol 2490 plan. This meant avoiding observations that require us to look up from the surface or deck, to avoid any risk of dust piling up on lenses if the RSM became stuck there.

The net result was that most of the ENV Science Theme Group's cloud and dust monitoring activities could not be included, as all of them involve using Mastcam or Navcam to look near the horizon or higher up. In the sol 2489 plan, we included some attempted dust devil imaging using the Rear Hazcams, but in today's plan we focused on adding extra REMS one-hour extended blocks to measure air and ground temperature, pressure, humidity, and UV radiation. This should result in us measuring over 37 of the 48 Mars hours contained in this two-sol plan, compared to the 13 hours we'd have measured usually, including seven periods with 5 hours of continuous REMS. Long periods of continuous atmospheric data are useful for tracking weather patterns, atmospheric wave activity, and even clouds that we can detect in the REMS UV and ground temperature data after sunset. The ENV group also planned DAN active and RAD observations.

Meanwhile, the GEO Science Theme Group planned to recover yesterday's planned observations, which were lost due to the RSM issue. Because delivery of the Glen Etive sample to the SAM inlet cover and documentation imaging did not complete, the highest priority for the sol 2490 plan was to perform the SAM drop-off and do ChemCam LIBS observations of the drill hole. Other activities were ChemCam and Mastcam observations of a single rock target 'Argyll,' consisting of dark bedrock with a white vein, of 'Dornock' and 'Thrumster,' both containing sulfate veins, and of 'Tap O Noth,' a nearby bedrock target.

Finally, further Mastcam imaging was performed to monitor any surface changes that may occur as a result of strong winds or intense atmospheric vortices that are able to move sand and/or dust particles. Targets of this imaging included the rover deck as well as images of two surface targets called 'Dundee 1' and 'Dundee 2.' These targets were chosen because they contain both sand and bedrock, which makes it easier to spot small changes between images, such as sand shifting slightly further onto the rock. These 'change detection' studies are repeated at roughly equal intervals over the Mars year, and help us to understand how sand motion and dust lifting varies with season, which in turn helps us to understand how dunes form, how the surface is eroded, and how dust storms occur.Written by Claire Newman, Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research

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Sols 2489-2491: A Change in the Weather (Observations)Over the weekend, Curiosity successfully dropped off a portion of the Glen Etive drill sample.Sol 2488: Success on the 22nd Drill Hole; Happy Landing Day--On to Year 8!

On Sunday morning the team received the message that Curiosity's latest drill hole was successful at 'Glen Etive.' This is the 22nd full-depth drill hole on Mars, and we can celebrate its success on this final day of Earth-year 7 of the mission. 'Glen Etive' is the third hole in the clay unit. The other two holes, 'Kilmarie' and 'Aberladie,' were drilled near each other in April at a lower stratigraphic position. This hole was achieved with no percussion, and its depth is > 4 cm. Tailings from the drill hole will be used for analyses of this outcrop by the SAM and CheMin instruments. The tailings will also be characterized by APXS, MAHLI, Mastcam, and ChemCam.

The operations and analysis surrounding a drill activity are well scripted, though not always easy. In today's plan, ChemCam will attempt to shoot down into the drill hole to analyze the rock layers on the wall of the hole. These are fresh rock surfaces and should generally represent the same material that SAM and CheMin analyze. It is dark in the hole, so the autofocus feature of ChemCam is significantly challenged. Getting a good image down the hole requires overexposing the other parts of the image so we can see better in the dark part of the hole. Early in the mission during my public talks, I would demonstrate the pointing accuracy needed to do this activity by tossing a dime down on the stage a few feet away and pointing at it with my laser pointer. The drill hole is the size of a dime. Making ChemCam laser observations up and down the drill hole wall is about like holding the laser pointer steady at different positions on Roosevelt's cheek on the face of the dime, lying on the floor.

Meanwhile, the arm will be busy with drill portion characterization. The activity creates 'test portions' in order to make sure that there is sample material in the drill and that the portions are of the expected amount (for instrument safety). One is delivered to the ground and two to the back of the closed SAM inlet cover. The latter is the best 'rehearsal' for dropping portions to the instruments, since it also allows us to gauge the amount of deflection by wind at the height of the rover deck. Mastcam images are used for documentation in all cases.

Mastcam will also take a mosaic of the area around the drill hole, and ChemCam will shoot one additional nearby target, 'Argyll.' The Hazcams will take images for a slip check of the rover. Navcam will do a dust-devil movie and a horizon movie to look for clouds. RAD, REMS, and DAN will also take data.Written by Roger Wiens, Geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory

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Sol 2488: Success on the 22nd Drill Hole; Happy Landing Day--On to Year 8!On Sunday morning the team received the message that Curiosity's latest drill hole was successful at "Glen Etive."Sols 2485-2487: Affirm-Etive: We Are GO for Drilling at Glen Etive 1!

Late during planning yesterday, we got the go ahead to proceed with full drilling at 'Glen Etive 1.' We received the results of the APXS and ChemCam compositional analysis of the prospective drill target, as well as the MAHLI imaging of the area both before and after a preload test (see the accompanying image). The preload test is exactly what it sounds like; exerting a load onto the surface bedrock to check that it can withstand the force of drilling. The engineers and science team assessed the results of these analyses and concluded that it is safe to drill the Glen Etive target. Therefore, the weekend plan is dominated by the drill activity, which will take place on the second sol of the plan.

We managed to fit in some environmental science and a Mastcam 360°mosaic of our surrounding terrain on the first sol of the plan to provide context for our drill site, prior to the rover going to sleep in order to recharge itself for the power intensive drilling. The environmental observations include a ChemCam passive sky observation, a rear Hazcam dust devil movie, a Mastcam crater rim extinction and basic tau pointed towards the sun.

We filled a post-drill science block with geological observations. These include observations of what will hopefully be a new drill hole and associated tailings on Mars, with ChemCam passive spectroscopy and remote microscopic imaging as well as Mastcam multispectral imaging. ChemCam will also continue to investigate the variation in chemistry of the bedrock in the vicinity of the drill target, firing its laser at the 'Clarkly Hill' target. Mastcam will document the ChemCam target.

Curiosity will wake up the next morning for an early morning science block with some more environmental monitoring including a Mastcam full tau pointed towards the sun, a Navcam zenith movie, suprahorizon movie, line of sight image and 360°sky survey. Standard background REMS, RAD and DAN passive measurements are also planned.

Everyone on the team will be eagerly awaiting the first downlinked data after the drill activity, to see if we have our 22nddrill hole on Mars destined for Curiosity's analytical lab. If successful, next week should see drop off of sample to CheMin and the preliminary mineralogical results, which we can compare with previous drill holes within Glen Torridon and the Murray formation.Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick

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Sols 2485-2487: Affirm-Etive: We Are GO for Drilling at Glen Etive 1!Late during planning yesterday, we got the go ahead to proceed with full drilling at "Glen Etive 1."Sol 2484: Preparing to Drill

Today's science activities were planned with the hopes of drilling our next target this weekend. The scientists on today's shift were largely interested in characterizing the large block of exposed bedrock in front of the rover to derive as much information as possible before we punch through the surface and expose the rock's interior. Last evening, Curiosity brushed the dust off of the rock and made some geochemical measurements using the APXS instrument (see image). For today, we planned to acquire a multispectral image of this brushed surface in addition to two remote laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) measurements of the bedrock's chemistry to determine whether there is spatial variability in the chemistry of this geologic unit. We also have an opportunity to acquire a large Mastcam mosaic of the large and flat geologic feature to the south of Curiosity known as the Greenheugh pediment. This enigmatic feature has been a target of interest ever since Gale crater was first being considered as a potential landing site for the Curiosity rover, and so documenting it from this new vantage point has been a high priority for the geologists on the team.

Today's activities will put us in a good place to drill this unit over the weekend, followed by several additional days to document the new drill hole and the tailings. If all goes well, we should receive additional geologic data from the rover's instruments on the mineralogy of this unit sometime next week. It'll be great to compare this location with the other drill holes acquired since the investigation of Vera Rubin ridge.Written by Mark Salvatore, Planetary Geologist at University of Michigan

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Sol 2484: Preparing to DrillToday's science activities were planned with the hopes of drilling our next target this weekend.Sol 2483: Anticipating Drill Hole Number Three (And Maybe Number Four) Within Glen Torridon

Mastcam left image of the block we plan to drill this weekend.

Planning today was focused on getting more compositional and textural information on top of this small ridge that we plan to attempt drilling at the weekend. This ridge is representative of one of the units mapped from orbit prior to landing, the 'fractured clay bearing unit.' We previously drilled two holes into the 'smooth clay bearing unit' and it will be interesting to compare the composition and mineralogy of these orbitally distinct units to each other and with the rest of the Murray formation.

We will use ChemCam to investigate the composition of two more spots ('Glen Dessary' and 'Canisbay') on the same block that we intend to drill to see if different layers have the same chemistry, and will get Mastcam documentation imaging of these targets.

We had the potential for two separate contact science targets in the plan today and discussed whether we wanted two APXS (chemistry) and MAHLI (imaging) targets or whether we wanted to devote one of those targets to MAHLI oblique imaging of the layers in the block we plan to drill (as opposed to imaging just the top surface). We decided to brush, get APXS and MAHLI on the second potential drill target 'Glen Etive 2,' and then do the MAHLI oblique imaging to hopefully inform us of the third dimension that we will encounter when we drill, as well as of any sedimentary structures present.

Standard environmental activities rounded out the plan with REMS, RAD, DAN active and passive, Mastcam crater rim extinction and basic tau of the sun, and a Navcam suprahorizon movie.Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick

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Sol 2483: Anticipating Drill Hole Number Three (And Maybe Number Four) Within Glen TorridonPlanning today was focused on getting more compositional and textural information on top of this small ridge that we plan to attempt drilling at the weekend.Sols 2482-2483: A Drill with a View

The rover is currently located in the southern part of the 'Visionarium,' where we are set to start our next drill campaign, and we can't help but take in the scenery! Perched on top of a small escarpment, we have arguably one of the best backdrops we have ever had during a drill campaign. The stunning panoramic views of Mount Sharp and surrounding terrains (like those seen in the Navcam image above) could truly take one's breath away - if the lack of oxygen wasn't enough!

Today marked drill Sol 1, which meant the team was focused on locating and prioritizing drillable rocks in our workspace. The target 'Glen Etive 1' was selected as the primary drill option; ChemCam, MAHLI, and APXS measurements on Glen Etive 1 will provide information on the geologic and chemical properties of this rock before we start to drill. ChemCam will also target another spot on the same rock layer ('Glen Etive 2') as well as a target on another outcrop nearby ('Ninian'). We also included various Mastcam observations in tosol's plan, such as documentation images of the three ChemCam targets, a stereo image of a layered rock target called 'Liddel,' and a larger mosaic image of a distant sandstone unit. A set of environmental measurements rounded out the plan, including two DAN activities, REMS monitoring, and Navcam images to monitor dust loading and dust devil activity.

The team is eager and ready to jump into drilling at this new location, especially given the picturesque backdrop we get to enjoy while we work. And since a full drill campaign can last weeks, we can continue to revel in the beauty of Gale crater's vast and diverse landscapes for at least a little while longer.Written by Mariah Baker, Planetary Geologist at Johns Hopkins University

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Sols 2482-2483: A Drill with a ViewThe rover is currently located in the southern part of the "Visionarium," where we are set to start our next drill campaign, and we can't help but take in the scenery!Sol 2481: On the Lookout for a Drill Site

After a successful ascent to the top of the southern outcrop in the 'Visionarium,' we are now searching for our next drill site. There were no bedrock exposures available for contact science activities in our immediate workspace, so our first order of business today was to identify a drill site area that we will drive to in today's plan.

There are a number of factors we considered when selecting this drill site. We looked for bedrock that looked 'in-place,' meaning bedrock that likely has not been moved since it formed. While there can be 'out-of-place' rocks (or 'float' rocks) that are interesting, in-place bedrock can be more stable for drilling and its geologic context is simpler to interpret. We also prioritized larger bedrock exposures, as we need room to drill, discard, and analyze the sample. The size of the bedrock slab is even more important than usual at this location because we may consider drilling a second time and delivering sample for a possible SAM wet chemistry experiment. Lastly, we considered other practical constraints, like finding an area that gives us a good parking position and a level surface to drill on. Considering all of these factors, we identified several candidate sites and finally decided to drive to a relatively flat slab that is visible in the right portion of the above image.

With the major drive decision out of the way, we then proceeded to plan the rest of the observations at our current location. Since we weren't doing contact science, we obtained some extra time for remote sensing activities and planned three ChemCam measurements of some nearby bedrock ('Blaven,' 'Glen Lyon,' 'Glen Orchy'). We also planned a large Mastcam mosaic of the bedrock exposures in front of us, dubbed the 'Hebrides' region, which we imaged in the previous plan from a different angle. Imaging this area before we drive up to our drill site will help us examine sedimentary structures and provide context for our future drill sample. In addition to these observations, we also planned a suite of atmospheric observations including Navcam dust devil movies, crater rim extinction, and Mastcam tau observations. There is much to look forward to in the upcoming days, with the start of our next drill campaign and excellent views from our future parking spot!Written by Vivian Sun, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Sol 2481: On the Lookout for a Drill SiteAfter a successful ascent to the top of the southern outcrop in the "Visionarium," we are now searching for our next drill site.Sol 2478 - 2480 - Goin' Up

Over the last few weeks Curiosity has collected hundreds of spectacular images, like the one above, that document the layers and textures of rocks exposed in the 'Visionarium.' (And as we heard in the last blog, we also set a mission record yesterday for having the highest tilt we've ever had while conducting contact science -- over 25 degrees!) With all of this imaging under our belt, we're now hoping to delve deeper into studying the composition of the rocks in the Visionarium, so we are beginning to look for our next potential drill target.

In the plan for the weekend, Curiosity will drive ~10 m to the top of the southern escarpment in the Visionarium. The drive will place us in an ideal location to image potential future drill targets. Before the drive, we'll spend a sol collecting MAHLI and APXS data from targets named 'Naver' and 'Fetterangus,' along with ChemCam and Mastcam observations of 'Malin Sea,' 'Loch Katrine,' and 'Loch Broom.' We'll also take several environmental science monitoring observations, and an 80 frame stereo Mastcam mosaic of 'Hebrides,' which is the area where we hope to find our next drill target.

On a personal note, today was an extra fun day of planning for me because I was joined by several science team members during my shift at JPL. Because members of the science team are located all over the world, we usually need to work with phone lines and screen sharing tools to develop our tactical plans each day. However, a lot of scientists traveled to Pasadena, CA, to attend the 9th International Conference on Mars that happened earlier this week, so it was excellent to have them available at the end of the conference to participate in operations in person at JPL!Written by Abigail Fraeman, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Sol 2478 - 2480 - Goin' UpOver the last few weeks Curiosity has collected hundreds of spectacular images, that document the layers and textures of rocks exposed in the "Visionarium."Sol 2477: Records measured in degrees

Image taken by Curiosity's Navcam: Left B (NAV_LEFT_B) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 2476 (2019-07-25 06:04:28 UTC). It is pointed at Mt. Sharp and shows impressively just how steep a tilt the rover currently has.

Europeans, Californians… and many others on the team watched their thermometers rise to record highs today, reaching 36 °C in this blogger's hometown 'Milton Keynes.' Thinking about planning, where we currently think about cold, wintertime temperatures on Mars and tosol's maximum temperature was -30 °C according to REMS, this 66 °C difference in temperature is a very practical demonstration of orbital mechanics and other factors, and more generally how different Earth and Mars are!

Temperatures are not today's most important record, though: Curiosity is currently tilted 25° - more than ever before, during science operations. The image above shows just how much this is. Never mind that slope…., Curiosity will get her arm out to investigate the outcrop in front of her. Since lamination and other sedimentary features are exceptionally well accessible, we planned a MAHLI dog's-eye mosaic to study all the details on this target called 'East Caithness Cliff.' ChemCam will target some of the layers of East Caithness Cliff for chemistry. APXS is busy on the target 'Cruden Bay,' which is also part of the outcrop but at a lower level than the MAHLI mosaic. Curiosity will then drive away to reach the top of the ridge. Tomorrow she should be on closer-to-horizontal ground - which hopefully comes with a first view of the top of this ridge.Written by Susanne Schwenzer, Planetary Geologist at The Open University

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Sol 2477: Records measured in degreesEuropeans, Californians… and many others on the team watched their thermometers rise to record highs today, reaching 36 °C in this blogger's hometown "Milton Keynes."Sol 2476: The Southern Escarpment Almost Within Reach

This morning Curiosity found herself parked at the base of the southern escarpment of the Visionarium. She's at a significant tilt of 21 degrees; you can see the slope of the horizon in the attached image. We've been imaging this ridge from several locations over the past few sols, trying to build up our understanding of the geology in this area. In today's plan Curiosity will continue taking high resolution images of the outcrop with Mastcam and ChemCam; three specific areas are being targeted on the outcrop to see details of the various layering: 'Antonine Wall,' 'Tyrebagger Hill,' and 'Seaton Cliffs.'

After completing the imaging, Curiosity will be driving just a little bit closer to try to put the layers near Tyrebagger Hill into the arm workspace. This requires backing up a short distance, turning slightly, and then re-approaching the ridge at a slightly different location, where we believe parking will be safe to unstow the arm for contact science, including low-angle MAHLI images of the layers. We may get close to or even break Curiosity's high tilt record on this drive!Written by Ashley Stroupe, Mission Operations Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Sol 2476: The Southern Escarpment Almost Within ReachThis morning Curiosity found herself parked at the base of the southern escarpment of the Visionarium.Sol 2475: Powering Through!

It's winter for Curiosity, and it's cold. That means that we have to spend extra energy heating up the instruments and motors for our activities. All of our energy comes from batteries, charged by the RTG. The RTG gives us more power than solar panels would, but in the winter, we are still limited by the amount of power it can generate. That means we have to choose among various activities.

Tosol (today on Mars), we chose to save a little extra power for a big science day solorrow (tomorrow on Mars). Thus, we planned only one ChemCam analysis, which was on the target 'Monreith,' accompanied by a Mastcam image to document the analysis. We also asked Curiosity to take a Mastcam mosaic looking west to document the topography. After playing photographer, Curiosity will drive up to the escarpment we've been imaging to the south (see yestersol's update). Once there, Curiosity will image its surroundings as well as look for clouds in the sky. Winter is the cloudy season at Gale Crater, so we are doing extra cloud imaging to better understand the atmosphere.

Seasonal changes provide important insights into the climate of Mars. Thus, winters are particularly interesting times for environmental observations even if the cold means that we can't take as much data as we can in the warmer months.Written by Dawn Sumner, Planetary Geologist at University of California Davis

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Sol 2475: Powering Through!It's winter for Curiosity, and it's cold. That means that we have to spend extra energy heating up the instruments and motors for our activities. All of our energy comes from batteries, charged by the RTG.Sol 2474: A Great Outcrop!

Today's one-sol plan included both remote science and contact science. The team planned a large Mastcam mosaic of the outcrop located to the south of Curiosity. The image above shows a Mastcam image of a different part of the outcrop that was imaged last week. When we see outcrops like this one that show a vertical exposure of laminated rocks, we capture it in high resolution Mastcam images so that scientists can look for sedimentary structures that give us clues as to how the rock formed.

The workspace today showed a lot of pebbles, plus a few small blocks. Two of the blocks, 'Moine' and 'Mither Tap,' were targeted by MAHLI, APXS, and ChemCam.

In order to fit in all the science observations in today's plan, Curiosity will not be driving in this sol. Tomorrow the rover will likely keep rolling along the traverse!Written by Kristen Bennett, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center

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Sol 2474: A Great Outcrop!Today's one-sol plan included both remote science and contact science.Sol 2472-2473: Additional Contact Science and a Soliday at Sandside Harbour

Curiosity is still parked in front of an outcrop known as 'Sandside Harbour' in order to investigate differences in the lighter and darker outcrop expressions. Contact science in the previous plan went well, and today we have one more opportunity to look for differences in sedimentary structures and composition before driving on to the next outcrop.

The plan starts with Mastcam multispectral observations to characterize the two different parts of this outcrop, as well as a unique fin of bedrock sticking out at 'Joppa Shore.' Mastcam will also be used to document some nearby stratigraphy at 'North Minch' and an interesting green rock named 'Halkirk.' Then ChemCam will assess the chemistry of 'Blackstones Bank' (part of the darker outcrop) and 'Essendy' (a target on the lighter outcrop). We also planned a large Mastcam mosaic to document the 'Sandside Harbour' outcrop. The main focus of the plan is to use the DRT, MAHLI, and APXS to characterize the darker outcrop for comparison with the lighter outcrop measurements that were taken previously. 'East Shetland,' shown in the right side of the above Navcam image, is the top priority today. We'll also acquire MAHLI and APXS on 'Essendy,' located on the left side of the above image. On the second sol, Navcam will monitor the atmosphere with a suprahorizon movie and dust devil survey. Then we'll drive west to another outcrop and take post-drive imaging to prepare for even more contact science on Monday. Curiosity will wake up early on Sol 2474 for some additional environmental monitoring activities.

I was the SOWG Chair today, and it was a fun day of planning. Rather than the usual 3-sol weekend plan, this plan is only two sols due to a soliday on Saturday (a day without planning to allow Earth and Mars schedules to sync back up). But I'd prefer to think that Curiosity is using the soliday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and appreciating those early explorers who laid the groundwork for the exciting work we get to do on other planets today!Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center

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Sol 2472-2473: Additional Contact Science and a Soliday at Sandside HarbourCuriosity is still parked in front of an outcrop known as "Sandside Harbour" in order to investigate differences in the lighter and darker outcrop expressions.Sol 2470-2471: A Way to Spend a Sol at Solway

Today, Curiosity finds itself parked in front of a fascinating area of martian bedrock with clearly lighter and darker colored areas next to each other as seen in the Navcam image above. This will be a 'full' contact science location and the rover will spend the next few sols examining the rocks in this immediate area just in front of the Southern Outcrop. A target on the lighter-colored bedrock was termed 'Solway Firth' and it will get a ChemCam LIBS target and the full dust-removal tool treatment before APXS and MAHLI observations. The second contact science location (without the dust removal) will be 'Nith' on the darker-colored bedrock.

The second sol of today's plan will include a rare ChemCam image of the rover's drill bit to examine how it has been worn during our years on Mars. We are into the cloudy season on Mars and included two Navcam movies to study the water ice clouds that frequent the skies above Gale Crater in the afternoons and evenings this time of year. Lastly, Mastcam will take a large, and sure to be spectacular, mosaic of the nearby Southern Outcrop.Written by Scott Guzewich, Atmospheric Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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Sol 2470-2471: A Way to Spend a Sol at SolwayToday, Curiosity finds itself parked in front of a fascinating area of martian bedrock with clearly lighter and darker colored areas next to each other.Sols: 2468-2469: Rolling Southward!

Image looks back at our traverse along Glen Torridon, away from Harlaw Rise

Curiosity finished up our investigation at Harlaw Rise on the weekend, and commenced our drive to an area we are (informally) calling the 'Southern Outcrop,' another of the ridge features that are so prominent in this part of Glen Torridon. This drive was split into a number of shorter drive segments. Our weekend drive brought us to a very rubbly workspace, with lots of small pebbles. These pebbles may be small but are geochemically interesting and add to our understanding of the geology here, so we are analyzing a pebble (about 4 cm along its long axis) called 'Paible,' before continuing on our way southward. APXS and ChemCam will both investigate the chemistry, and Mastcam and MAHLI will take colour images, giving us a full suite of observations to help with interpretation of this target. Mastcam will be taking a large image of an area of brighter rocks called 'Sandside Harbor' at the Southern Outcrop.

Post-drive imaging of the new workspace will support contact science if we find ourselves in an interesting location, and a routine end of drive image of the ground at the back of the front left wheel will catalog changes in rock, soil and pebble populations. On the night of the second sol, CheMin will do some routine housekeeping activities ahead of a potential drill campaign, atop the Southern Outcrop in the coming weeks.

The Environmental Theme Group (ENV) has, as always, planned a very full suite of environmental monitoring activities, to run across the two-sol plan. A suite of Navcam movies will be taken to document clouds, variations in optical depth and winds in Gale crater - a 'zenith' movie will look upwards, a 'suprahorizon' movie will monitor clouds to the south of the rover, and a 'dust-devil' movie will attempt to track wind vortices, which can give us information on surface heating and winds near the surface. At the top of each and every hour and in a series of extended hour-long measurements, the Rover Environmental Monitoring System (REMS) acquires temperature, pressure, humidity, and UV radiation measurements. DAN (Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons) continues its search for subsurface hydrogen, with frequent passive (utilizing cosmic rays as a source of neutrons to measure hydrogen) and post-drive active (actively shooting neutrons from the rover) measurementsWritten by Catherine O'Connell, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick-Cooper

The Sol 2463 drive went as planned, leaving the rover in position to examine what appears to be a small dome in the sedimentary rocks (visible on the left side of the scene above). To determine whether the layers really do bow upward here, we planned an oblique MAHLI mosaic and a Mastcam stereo mosaic. MAHLI will also acquire full suites of images of bedrock targets 'Ecclefechan' and 'Kirbuster' after ChemCam has measured their chemistry and hopefully cleared off some dust using its laser. ChemCam will also observe a small, brighter outcrop named 'Hatton' on Sol 2465. Later that sol, Mastcam will image the sun just before sunset, and APXS will perform short integrations on Kirbuster and longer, overnight integrations on Ecclefechan.

On Sol 2466, Mastcam will image the sun and the Gale Crater rim just after noon to measure the dust content in the atmosphere. Then Mastcam will acquire 3 stereo mosaics, of the possible dome in front of the rover, of the 'Aitken Pit' area to the left, and of the top of Harlaw Rise before the rover drives away. During the drive around the east side of Harlaw Rise, the rover will pause to acquire Left Mastcam and Navcam stereo mosaics of that side of the rise before proceeding to the south. The usual Hazcam, Navcam, Mastcam and MARDI images will be acquired after the drive, along with some additional Left Mastcam coverage on the right side of the rover to help select ChemCam targets on Monday.

Navcam will search for dust devils to start off Sol 2467, then ChemCam will perform a series of calibration activities. Later that afternoon, Mastcam will again measure dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will search for clouds before and after sunset. Finally APXS will measure the composition of the atmosphere overnight. There are lots of complex activities in this plan, so it was a busy day for me as SOWG Chair; I'm glad that all of the desired observations made it into the plan!Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center

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Sol 2465-2467: Finishing up at Harlaw RiseThe Sol 2463 drive went as planned, leaving the rover in position to examine what appears to be a small dome in the sedimentary rocks.